La Belle Titcomb was the stage name of Heloise McCeney (aka Heloise Titcomb), a popular vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 performer known as The Parisian Dancer on Horseback. Her act usually had her riding upon a white horse while singing operatic arias.

Early life

Heloise McCeney was born on January 19, 1876 in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, the daughter of Robert and Anna (née Broom) McCeney. Robert McCeney, a native of Washington D.C., served as secretary for the National Fair Association in Washington. He died in San Leandro, California

San Leandro, California

San Leandro is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is considered a suburb of Oakland and San Francisco. The population was 84,950 as of 2010 census. The climate of the city is mild throughout the year.-Geography and water resources:...

 on December 9, 1898 after a short bout with pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

. Her mother died five years later on February 27, 1903, and was interred at Rock Creek Cemetery

Rock Creek Cemetery

Rock Creek Cemetery — also Rock Creek Church Yard and Cemetery — is an cemetery with a natural rolling landscape located at Rock Creek Church Road, NW, and Webster Street, NW, off Hawaii Avenue, NE in Washington, D.C.'s Michigan Park neighborhood, near Washington's Petworth neighborhood...

 in Washington D.C., as was her father and a younger brother, Robert, who died in 1884. McCeney also had a half-brother, Charles, from her mother's previous marriage.

Marriages

Heloise McCeney's first marriage was to a San Francisco dentist, Charles B. Titcomb. Her second marriage, to Waine Weinerbet (his last name was given as "McEinbett" in a contemporary New York Times article) ended in divorce on May 13, 1910 in Chicago on the grounds of "extreme cruelty."

Her third marriage was to fellow vaudeville performer Nat M. Wills

Nat M. Wills

Nat M. Wills , was a popular stage star, vaudeville entertainer, and recording artist at the beginning of the 20th century...

on May 23, 1910. Upon their divorce four years later, she received a substantial alimony settlement which led to a legal battle to have the amount reduced after Wills married actress May Day.

Titcomb kept her married name after their divorce and listed herself as a widow after Wills died in 1917.

La Belle Titcomb continued to perform all over the world, though scant record of her exists after 1920.